Psychology Commons^™

Attempting To Improve The Academic Performance Of Struggling College Students By Bolstering Their Self-Esteem: An Intervention That Backfired, Donelson R. Forsyth, Natalie K. Lawrence, Jeni L. Burnette, Roy F. Baumeister

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

Theory and prior research suggest that (a) a positive sense of self–worth and (b) perceived control over one’s outcomes facilitate constructive responses to negative outcomes. We therefore predicted that encouraging students to maintain their sense of self–worth and/or construe their academic outcomes as controllable would promote achievement. In a field experiment, low–performing students in a psychology class were randomly assigned to receive, each week, review questions, review questions plus self–esteem bolstering, or review questions plus exhortations to assume responsibility and control. Contrary to predictions, the D and F students got worse as a result of self–esteem bolstering and students in …